Released: September 1987
Director: William Fruet
Rated R
Run Time: 96 Minutes
Genre: Horror
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Cast:
Steve Railsback: Det. Jim Bishop
Gwynyth Walsh: Dr. Rachel Carson
Don Lake: Elliot Jacobs
Susan Anspatch: Dr. Judith Glass
The 1980’s was a very unusually active decade for movies. Obviously, we had some really huge movies released that decade: Star Wars, Indiana Jones, The Terminator, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Friday The 13th just to name a few. There were so many movies released in that 10 year period that a lot of smaller and lesser-known films ended up being forgotten. There were a number of cult-classics like Blade Runner, Evil Dead and other films of that nature, but when it came to horror movies, there were a great number of little gems that got lost in the shuffle, and while it’s mostly for a good reason, there were some small horror flicks that were genuinely pretty good. In 1986, James Cameron released one of the biggest and best sequels of all time: Aliens. If you guys thought that The Asylum was the first film studio to release blatant movie rip-offs, you would be wrong. In 1987, there was a little-known but goofy horror flick that was obviously a rip-off of Aliens. The film was called Blue Monkey.
Blue Monkey opens as an old man, Fred visits a local greenhouse where he accidentally gets stung by a new species of plant, only to quickly fall ill. Shortly after, he’s whisked away to a nearby hospital where a police detective’s partner was also taken after being shot. Detective Jim Bishop is currently waiting for news of his partner when Fred is brought in. Fred convulses and there is a small object that comes out of his mouth is put into a secure room. Later, Bishop and several doctors including Rachel Carson try to inspect this…organic object, only to find a nasty little critter inside. Encasing it in a glass jar, the group tries to investigate what happened when other people start getting sick. Meanwhile, a couple of kids sneak their way into the room and inadvertently feed this insect with an experimental growth hormone. When the thing busts out, it’s up to Bishop, Rachel and insect expert Elliot to find this thing before it’s too late. It’s a pretty basic setup for a monster movie and it gets the job done. It’s very clear that James Cameron’s movie was an influence in MANY ways. A character named Bishop? Strange coincidence don’t you think? Now you have a monster movie that takes place in tight and dark corridors, featuring a massive monster that you don’t really see until about half-way through the film. It’s absolutely silly and not particularly great as monster movies go.
It’s funny: As a kid, I wasn’t necessarily scared of the dark until I started watching movies like Alien 3, then I was kind of….concerned. But honestly, the movie that really scared the hell out of me when it came to basements, despite the fact that I was living in one at the time, was Blue Monkey. This was a dimly shot movie that took place in the corridors of an abandoned insane asylum, so you can imagine the terrors that could lurk around the corner. This movie spooked the hell out of me when I was younger. Looking back at it now, it still has a pretty creepy vibe to it that sends shivers down your spine. Does the film actually scare me today? No. It’s far too hokey and cheesy to have that kind of an effect on me any more. These days, creature features use a lot of CGI to animate their monsters. During the 80s, this technology really wasn’t available or good enough to do that, so everybody had to rely on old-school tricks like miniatures and puppets. In the case of Blue Monkey, a man in a suit. Basically, the creature is nothing more than an overgrown praying mantis in terms of its design, but you have to admit, a ten-foot tall praying mantis would be pretty freaky. Some of the smaller creatures are genuinely pretty creepy, but they are obviously puppets and such. Some of the effects in the film were actually not half-bad considering the obviously low-budget nature of the film. While the film definitely owes a lot to bigger and better films, it still manages to be pretty thrilling, and that’s not bad for a film that’s over thirty years old.
The acting is pretty much on par with what you would expect from a movie of this sort. So…mostly not great, but you have a pretty solid lead in Steve Railsback as Detective Bishop. It’s one of the few roles that I’ve seen him in that he plays a good guy. Gwynyth Walsh plays Rachel Carson, does a decent job in the role, even though, she’s nothing more than a potential love interest for Bishop. One of the guys that really steals the show is Don Lake as the nerdy insect specialist Elliot. This guy pretty much rules the screen every time he shows his face. He’s a really good actor and this was one of his more interesting roles that he’s taken over the years. Overall, the acting isn’t too shabby, but it’s not Oscar-worthy at the same time.
While I definitely enjoyed this film, there were definitely some issues. Some of the effects really don’t age that well. There was a scene where the creature decapitates one of the patients and the obvious dummy is obviously obvious. Again, with the film being of a low-budget fair, it’s not a movie-killer, but it does stand out, especially in today’s world.
Blue Monkey was one of many movies that really kind of disappeared around the turn of the decade. It was on VHS for a good long while, and there was a DVD released at some point. I managed to find and order a copy, but aside from that, the film is out of print, meaning it’s a very rare film if you can find it. Is it worth looking for? In my opinion, it is. It’s one of the lesser-known gems in a genre that was already becoming over-crowded with slasher films. I would really love to see this film get a proper Blu-Ray release with commentary and vintage special features, but it doesn’t seem like there’s a lot of interest in the film. I’m hoping to change that with this review. Is it a great movie? Nope. Is it a good movie? Not really. Is it a fun B-movie? Hell yes, it is.
My Final Recommendation: Don’t feed insects experimental growth hormones. Nothing good can come of that. 8/10.